Fig 1.
Map of deep and shallow longline sampling sites off the Washington coast over the Quinault Canyon.
Sampling was performed 40–50 miles northwest of Gray's Harbor, Westport (WA). See S1 Table for exact details of longline depth and location.
Fig 2.
Monthly fork length, body weight and age of sablefish collected off the Washington coast.
Fork length (A), body weight (B) and age (C) of female (empty circles) and male (black circles) sablefish. Data are expressed as the mean ± SD. Means not sharing the same letters are significantly different (p<0.05). Male sablefish collected in June were not included in any post-hoc comparisons due to small sample size (n = 2). Asterisks (*) indicate significant differences between males and females within a given month (two-way ANOVA, p<0.05)
Fig 3.
Representative photographs of the external appearance and histological sections of sablefish ovaries at onset of secondary growth, early and mid vitellogenic stages.
Onset of secondary growth (A), early vitellogenesis (B) and mid vitellogenesis (C). Detail of an ovarian follicle transitioning to secondary growth is shown in A.1. Abbreviations: yg, yolk granule, ca, cortical alveoli; nu, nucleolus; epn, early perinucleolus follicle; lpn, late perinucleolus follicle; evit, early vitellogenic follicle; fvit, fully vitellogenic follicle. Gonad orientation is anterior portion to the left, posterior to the right. Bars indicate 4 cm in left panels and 500 μm in right panels.
Fig 4.
Representative photographs of the external appearance and histological sections of sablefish ovaries at late vitellogenic, periovulatory and postspawning stages.
Late vitellogenesis (A), periovulatory (B) and postspawning (C). Abbreviations: epn, early perinucleolus follicle; lpn, late perinucleolus follicle; fvit, fully vitellogenic follicle; gvm, germinal vesicle migration; ygf, yolk granule fusion; pof, postovulatory follicle. Gonad orientation is anterior portion to the left, posterior to the right. Bars indicate 4 cm in left panels and 500 μm in right panels.
Fig 5.
Follicle size-frequency distribution histograms representative of each stage of ovarian development in sablefish.
Ovaries at onset of secondary growth (A), early vitellogenesis (B), mid vitellogenesis (C), late vitellogenesis (D), periovulatory (E) and postspawning (F) are shown. A total of 597, 743, 625, 491, 384, 204 and 559 cross-sectioned follicles were measured at these specific stages, respectively. To facilitate the visualization of the results, follicle size-frequency histograms are divided into four categories: perinucleolar, which includes follicles at the late perinucleolus stage (80–160 μm); early developing, which includes follicles at the onset of secondary growth and early vitellogenesis as they typically overlap in size (160–340 μm); fully vitellogenic, which includes follicles with their cytoplasm completely filled with yolk and lipid globules (340–610 μm); and maturing, which includes follicles showing signs of germinal vesicle migration and yolk globule fusion (610–760 μm).
Fig 6.
Monthly proportion of female sablefish at specific reproductive stages and their gonadosomatic index, hepatosomatic index, condition factor and plasma 17β-estradiol levels.
Proportion of female sablefish at specific reproductive stages (A), gonadosomatic index (B), hepatosomatic index (C), condition factor (D) and plasma 17β-estradiol levels (E). In A, the number of females sampled at each month is indicated in parentheses. In B-E, females were divided into specific stages of ovarian development within a month. In B-E, data are represented by box and whisker plots in which the box extends from the 25th to 75th percentile and the line within the box indicates the median; whiskers are determined by the largest and the smallest values. To improve visualization of lower values, plasma levels of 17β-estradiol are shown in a log10-based scale.
Fig 7.
Comparison of gonadosomatic index, hepatosomatic index, condition factor and plasma 17β-estradiol at specific stages of ovarian development in sablefish.
Gonadosomatic index (A), hepatosomatic index (B), condition factor (C) and plasma 17β-estradiol (D). The stages of ovarian development include onset of the secondary growth, OSG; early vitellogenesis, EV; mid vitellogenesis, MV; late vitellogenesis, LV; periovulatory, PO; postspawning, PS. Data are represented by box and whisker plots in which the box extends from the 25th to 75th percentile and the line within the box indicates the median; whiskers extend from the 5th to 95th percentile. Shared letters indicate statistical similarities (ANOVA on ranks, p<0.05).
Table 1.
Pearson correlation coefficients (r) and p values among reproductive parameters from female (n = 209) and male (n = 159) adult sablefish.
Table 2.
Summary of reproductive traits at specific stages of ovarian development in sablefish.
Fig 8.
Representative photographs of the external appearance and histological sections of sablefish testes at early, mid and late recrudescence stages.
Early recrudescence (A), mid recrudescence (B) and late recrudescence (C). Detail of cyst containing secondary spermatocytes is shown in A.1. Abbreviations: spg, spermatogonia; spcI, primary spermatocyte; spcII, secondary spermatocyte; spd, spermatid; spz, spermatozoa. Gonad orientation is anterior portion to the left, posterior to the right. Bars indicate 4 cm in left panels and 100 μm in right panels.
Fig 9.
Representative photographs of the external appearance and histological sections of sablefish testes at spermiating and postspawning stages.
Spermiating (A) and postspawning (B). Abbreviations: spz, spermatozoa; re-spz, residual spermatozoa. Gonad orientation is anterior portion to the left, posterior to the right. Bars indicate 4 cm in left panels and 100 μm in right panels.
Fig 10.
Monthly proportion of male sablefish at specific reproductive stages and their gonadosomatic index, hepatosomatic index, condition factor and 11-ketotestosterone levels.
Proportion of male sablefish at specific reproductive stages (A), gonadosomatic index (B), hepatosomatic index (C), condition factor (D) and 11-ketotestosterone levels (E). In A, the number of males sampled at each month is indicated in parentheses. In B-E, males were divided into specific stages of testicular development within a month. In B-E, data are represented by box and whisker plots in which the box extends from the 25th to 75th percentile and the line within the box indicates the median; whiskers are determined by the largest and the smallest values. In order to improve visualization of lower values, plasma levels of 11-ketotestosterone are shown in a log10-based scale.
Fig 11.
Comparison of gonadosomatic index, hepatosomatic index, condition factor and plasma 11-ketotestosterone at specific stages of testicular development in male sablefish.
Gonadosomatic index (A), hepatosomatic index (B), condition factor (C) and plasma 11-ketotestosterone (D). Stages of testicular development include early recrudescence, ER; mid recrudescence, MR; late recrudescence, LR; spermiating, S; postspawning, PS. Data are represented by box and whisker plots in which the box extends from the 25th to 75th percentile and the line within the box indicates the median; whiskers extend from the 5th to 95th percentile. Shared letters indicate statistical similarities (ANOVA on ranks, p<0.05).
Table 3.
Summary of reproductive traits at specific stages of testicular development in sablefish.